Winds of Change in Wisconsin

As it moves into a new facility this month, the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Bureau of Publishing and Distribution is fine-tuning its production workflow for more efficiency while preparing to upgrade its mailing capabilities.

Autumn should prove to be an exciting season at the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Bureau of Publishing and Distribution.

The all-digital, 60-employee shop, located in the state capital of Madison, is moving into a new facility this month. And, as temperatures outside begin to drop and leaves start to fall, the in-plant will be busy enhancing its new digs with fresh equipment and other improvements to help customers fulfill their printing and mailing needs.

As the State of Wisconsin’s primary print and mail facility, the Bureau of Publishing and Distribution provides print and mail solutions to the state legislature, government agencies, counties, municipalities and libraries throughout the Badger state.

The in-plant’s new facility is about four miles from the current building, which the state is razing to construct a new facility for archiving state historical materials. For Director Timothy Smith, vacating the former shop—housed in a 120-year-old building shared with other state agencies—will be a welcome change.

“From efficiency, environment and power standpoints, we were pretty far behind the eight ball,” Smith admits. “We are going to be in a much better situation.”

The shop hired a contractor to design its production workflow and equipment placement at the new facility, which totals 39,000 square feet of production, warehousing and office space.

“We are trying to gain as much efficiency as possible for our work processes,” Smith notes. “We are trying to take full advantage of what we are getting.”

Smith says that this is especially important because he runs a highly automated shop.

“We work to limit the number of touches,” he says. “But in terms of quality control, you need to be reviewing the products often. One thing that we work on is bringing the print side of the world and mail side of the world closer together.”

A Very Busy Operation

Publishing Services Section Chief Tony Kannenberg points out that the shop runs production Sunday through Friday, with three shifts per day in print and mail. The in-plant annually mails in excess of 40 million pieces of mail; 31.5 million of that total is pre-sorted, first class mail.

In-plant SnapshotState of WisconsinDepartment of AdministrationBureau of Publishing and DistributionMadison, Wis.